Imagine going to get a new ID card and discovering that you’ve been married since you were ten years old. That’s exactly this case, reported in Saudi Gazette and based on a piece in the Arabic daily Al-Riyadh. Now imagine trying to get out of the marriage only to have a court tell you, ‘tough luck… you’re married.’
Saudis are becoming angry with the fact that child marriages are continuing in the country. Saudi media is leading the fight against the practice, pointing out how they violate Islamic laws governing marriage, starting with the requirement that the bride agree to the marriage.
Trapped into marriage with unknown husband
TAIF – It is rare for victims of minor marriages to speak out, but Rasha did. A victim of parental divorce, little Rasha was married off when she was only 10 years old to a man in his 80s whom she has never ever seen. After 8 years of a marriage that she only recently knew about, she is now seeking divorce, Al-Riyadh daily reported.
Rasha was born before her parents were divorced, growing up in her grandmother’s house. Living in total isolation from her mother who married another man a year later and her father who disappeared, she had a difficult journey from childhood through early adulthood.
But how did Rasha find out that she had been married off to an old man without her knowledge?
“I was admitted to elementary and intermediate school with my birth certificate as my ID, but when I was ready to go into high school, I was asked for an official ID,” Rasha said.
She reported to the Civil Status Department in Taif for an official ID. “You are married and you have been added to your husband’s family card,” an official told her after going through the records.
“I was shocked and could not believe what I heard,” Rasha said. Her complete file was searched, and a copy of the marriage contract signed by her husband, father, witnesses, and marriage contractor was found.
With such hard evidence it was impossible to deny the marriage.
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September:09:2008 - 12:41
Let me see if I get this straight: couples who are happily married are forced apart by the court (as in Fatima and Mansour) but some poor kid married off to some old pervert, whose husbandly duty is limited to using her identity to scam payments out of the state, is forced to stay in the marriage?
I think the West, despite all criticism as to their lack of morality, has better standards for marriage and family value.
September:09:2008 - 12:53
Too true Olivetheoil…I could write volumes on it!
Like I say, “What is preached is rarely practiced!”
I have learned a life lesson and that is to ask questions, “Show me the fruits…show me the evidence…show me the Money (just kidding, I love that part of Jerry McGuire)
September:09:2008 - 13:13
On a lighter note…I do feel like saying with the same fervor that Rid Tidwell or Cuba Gooding Jr. says when asked by Tom Cruise “What can I do for you?” and Rid answers, “Show me the money…I love black people” I want someone to call me and say, “Sparky what can I do for you?” and I say “Show me the good face of Islam…I love Muslim people!”
This clip can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaiSHcHM0PA
IMHO, people need to be out there with the same energy and fervor as displayed in this clip.
September:10:2008 - 12:16
Is this really the Islamic way? An absent son of a BEE father gets SR 30,000 from an old pervert to marry a child? And what is with the judge who is making her stay “married?” What exactly is the girl getting out of this sham of a marriage? Shouldn’t the old man be supporting her then? Who could ever defend ANY of this as being right?
Oh, Tariq, where are you?
September:10:2008 - 14:21
now I’m curious…hopefully she will get her divorce but since it seems evident she was never a wife to this man in any way will she be viewed in the eyes of society as a divorced woman? Will this experience hamper her from being able to enter a marriage as a first wife and with a proper dowry?
September:10:2008 - 16:25
Given that her father sold her for a pittance, I doubt she has much to offer in the way of a dowry.
I would think (hope?) that any family considering her as a bride would understand the reality of the situation, but in the KSA, sadly, that’s not a given.
September:10:2008 - 18:52
but if she remarries the husband should be the one providing her with a dowry and so my thought is whether she would receive a proper dowry as a new bride or she would be viewed as “second hand goods” due to the divorce in spite of the marriage having never been consumated…
September:11:2008 - 07:27
[...] going to get a new ID card and discovering that you’ve been married since you were ten years old.” Posted by Ayesha Saldanha Print Version Share [...]